"This is for you, Cory."
That is how Glee's Chord Overstreet remembered his late co-star Cory Monteith on Saturday during a concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles, joining Matthew Morrison in dedicating a musical performance to one of Glee's original stars.
The actor, who has been using his Glee hiatus to pen new music with his father, dedicated an original song to Monteith, who died July 13 at the age of 31. An autopsy revealed that the actor behind Glee's Finn Hudson died of "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol."
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Meanwhile, co-star Jenna Ushkowitz -- who has played Tina for all four seasons of Glee -- remembered Monteith with a tweet and accompanying photo noting he would "leave a mark in my heart forever."
"I am so grateful that Glee brought this group of extraordinary individuals together to form a family," she wrote. "I was lucky enough to closely experience the love and light that Cory shared with the world, as well as having the privilege of traveling down the road together on a once in a lifetime journey. Cory always reminded me to be gracious, kind and open, and he will leave a mark in my heart forever. Thank you everyone for your constant support and love while we mourn the loss of our dear friend, and continued support to Cory's family, and to Lea [Michele]."
Fox and producers 20th Century Fox have pushed back the fifth season premiere of Glee to Sept. 26. Co-creator Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that the current plan is to pay tribute to Monteith -- whom he described as an "older son" -- on the series with a tribute during the show's third episode, assuming he and the producers "can get it perfect."
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"The right thing to do for the show, at least at this point, is to have that character pass," Murphy said. "When we do the tribute episode to that character, we'll have to do it in a way where the cast members will not have to re-create feelings of grief that they’ve had this week -- but do it in an upbeat way. If we can do this responsibly and help young people through these feelings, that’s the best that we can hope for."
Murphy says that they don't intend to tackle the tribute episode until after this week's memorial, as so much of the cast and crew are still making sense of their emotions. Grief counselors will be on the Glee set for a couple of weeks once production resumes.
The showrunner praised Michele, Monteith's girlfriend, for her strength and noted the series is taking its cues from her.
Watch Overstreet's video, below.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
